


Take a Picture, It'll Last Longer

by lunastarz97



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Bounty Hunters, Fire, M/M, Minor Violence, Photography
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-26
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2019-03-09 18:20:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13487094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunastarz97/pseuds/lunastarz97
Summary: McCree is a photographer by day, bounty hunter by night. He travels everywhere, and whilst pursuing a target, meets another hunter, and strikes an odd rivalry with them.No biggie, except that this rival of his is suddenly everywhere he goes. Mayhem ensues.Also, McCree shouldn’t be allowed in the kitchen at all cost.Ratings might change as the story progresses, and there might be some smidges of violence in this.





	1. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Recipe for Fish in Parchment
> 
> 1\. Put fish in parchment  
> 2\. Put herbs on fish  
> 3\. Wrap it up  
> 4\. Bake it not burn it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, it's Joji. I fell in love with Overwatch somewhere last year, and got really into the lore. I ended up finding McHanzo from there, and I've been lurking around since. I bought the game around Halloween last year, during Overwatch Free week, and I've been McHanzoed quite a couple of times during gameplay from then onwards. This story sorta stemmed from that.
> 
> I hope you like it! Hit me up in the comments if you have any questions!

It shouldn’t be that hard, right?

The beeping smoke detector that blared obnoxiously above him, and the flaming fish on the floor, charring his wooden floor begs to differ.

Immediately he wets a towel under the tap, and threw it like a fishing net over the flaming fish. It stops burning seconds later, but he was already by the window, trying to ventilate some of the smoke out. The blaring smoke detector was giving him a headache, and with a few light jumps, he cuts the noise.

Blessed silence, along with a sad disappointment rolls over the 37 year old’s stocky build. He sighs deeply at his dinner, charred and wafting smoke from underneath his wet rag.

He cleans the mess up. He throws the mess away. He buys some varnish to cover up the burnt stain, along with milk, bread and canned food, and eats ramen for dinner that night.

He calls his mama, who wondered about how he’s doing. He tells her nothing about the burning fish. He tells her nothing about her recipe book on his kitchen counter, catching dust. Instead he tells her about the photos he took the day before, of a bunch of dogs watching kittens from behind a glass wall. He talks about the nice old lady selling flowers that loved the same songs as his mama. He talks about his day at the library, showing a kid how to use a kodak camera the boy bought at a garage sale.

“Mijo, did you find any one else?” She had asked, a knowing tone coming through, a million miles away from where her little boy is. He feign ignorance.

“What does that mean, mama?”

“Oh mijo. I’m glad you are living out there, but I don’t want you living alone.” She whined, a little sad for her baby boy.

“Mama, we’ve talked about this.”

“I know, I know, but I just wanted to see you happy.”

“But mama, I am happy.”

“And I want you to be happier. Is that too much? Come home, mijo. At least you’ll have me. At least you’re not alone.”

“I’ll be back soon mama.”

“Hopefully with a man in tow.”

“Mama, please!” He laughs.

“Jesse, I’m not going to get any younger. Oh wait, Jocho wants to say hi.”

He hears some sniffling, a little wuff, a clattering of the phone and his mother exclaiming something fast in spanish.

“That dog, seriously. I don’t even know why I put up with it.”

“You love that dog, mama. You wouldn’t sent it to the pound.” He’s sure of it. El Jocho has been in the family way before Deadlock. He’s a little old now, but the duo loves him with all their heart.

“And I love you. Take care, mijo.”

“I will, mama.”

With his phone call out of the way, he looks back to his little bag of supplies. His camera kit is already packed up and done away with, and now he’s just checking if he needs more ammos. His phone beeps again, and this time the message is a picture of a man.

“Black forest, near the pub, just by the cliffs.”

He knows where that is. He was just buying those flowers from the old lady, just around that corner from where his next mission is. He puts Peacekeeper in his holster, wears his beloved Stetson, and went out the door once again.

His phone gets another message an hour later.

“The money has been wired to your account. Will be contacting you soon.”

McCree ignores it. Instead, he disposes of the body. His eyes empty and his shoulder’s slumps. He walks around the corner, red serape covering his bloodied hands, the blood marks on his forearms. His eyes catches sight of a shadowy black cat sitting by a window sill of a closed shop, and he stares. It’s yellow eyes blink owlishly at him, like it knew what Jesse did.

Jesse, for a lack of a better thing to do, whipped out his other phone, the one with a decent camera, and takes a shot. It’s not like shooting a real camera, but at this point it was better than shooting Peacekeeper at it, like how he wants to. It has the same effect that he wanted. The flash spooks the cat away, and yellow eyes turn, no longer judging his very being. His stomach growls, and he thinks of his mama and her delightful cooking.

He goes back to his rental, packs up and sleeps fitfully. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a support main, and one time I was going as Mercy and was pocketing my Pharah (This was in Numbani). I ulted and was soaring high in the sky, going full DPS Mercy and shooting everyone else on the ground. Little did I know that just by the window that I was floating by, a Hanzo came up and was aiming at me. Not even a second later, a McCree came by his side and joined him in gunning me down. I didn't even get to use my ult for longer than 3 seconds.
> 
> I died, and while waiting for me to respawn I was going crazy in the coms, practically yelling at my team "Holy crap I just got McHanzoed! AVENGE MEEE!!"
> 
> "Hanzo is down, Hanzo is DOWN!" yelled my team's Genji. I finally got over the 10 second spawning wait, and I couldn't even get my warning out for McCree or out the spawn room when that damn gunslinger ulted and killed the rest of my team. He got the play of the game, and my squad and I got so salty by it that we still talk about it today.
> 
> We were very salty about it, sure, but it made a very interesting discussion and it bore fruit to this fic.


	2. The First Shot is Always Blurry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He remembers the 1st picture he ever shot. It was blurry. 
> 
> It was of his home. 
> 
> He don't remember it well either. All he does remember is just the smell of smoke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey it's Joji! Jesse is 10, in the flashback. If you found some grammar mistakes in there, it's because this is unbeta-d and English isn't my mother tongue. 
> 
> I also know nothing about Spanish, so if I made a mistake about it, I'm really really sorry!
> 
> I hope you like it! Hit me up in the comments if there's anything you wanna talk about!

_“Jesse.”_

_He blinked open his eyes, and his world was still dark. It smelled like unwashed hair. It smelled like Febreeze he used to mask the smell. It also smelled like sweat._

_“Jesse!” He heard a voice somewhere in the distance._

_He startled, and jumped up to his feet. His world was finally bright, and he realized his Stetson had fallen to the ground. Crouching down, he gently picked it up and dusted it, before plopping it on his head. It was a little too big for him. His Papa said he’ll grow into it._

_“Jesse, come on!” A persistent voice called to him._

_“Geez, I’m coming! Hold on, I just gotta-“ He’s barely out of the barn when he bumps into something solid. He stumbled, gained his footing and looked up to whatever blocked him._

_“Jesse, where are you?” Called his mother, her voice starting to sound panicked._

_The man hovering above him, huge and hulking, terrified him to the core to even answer. He eyed the door, thinking about bolting, when the man swung his hand down and struck him in the cheek. He was on the ground, blood blossoming on his tongue, completely disoriented. He was losing it._

_“He’s not here! Let go of my son!”_

_It was the last thing he heard, before he succumbed into the darkness._

_The next time he woke, his head was on his mama’s lap, something cold cradling his sore cheek. He caught a whiff of something burning._

_“Mijo, are you awake?”_

_“Mama--! Oww..”_

_He realized whatever that is cold and cradling his face was his mama’s hand. Too cold for comfort, his own hands came up and cupped hers to warm it up. Something wet and sticky dripped on to him. He got up and tried to look around._

_He’s still in the barn. His mother was here with him. Something was still burning. It’s too dark to see anything, and the oil lamp placed near the entrance of the barn wasn’t illuminating anything._

_“You are safe, my son. We’ll be alright. We’ll start over again.” She sounded shaky, tired, almost defeated. Immediately, Jesse became worried._

_“Mama? What are you talking about?”_

_He crawled to the entrance of the barn, a glow coming from his house._

_The moment he opened the door, his nose was assaulted by the smell of burning flesh and wood. He could barely open his eyes at the bright, scorching blaze of the fire that was eating away at his home._

_“They won’t hurt us anymore. We’ll be safe. They think we’re dead. We can start over. We’ll be alright.”_

_“Mama? What--?” Jesse turned around from the blazing sight, to his mother._

_The door was wide open. The light from the blaze illuminated his poor mother. If seeing his home burning to the ground already left his heart in agony, the sight of his mother, bleeding from wounds all over her face and body while using a shotgun to support herself, was the one blow that knocked out his breath and took away the strength in his legs._

_His mama came slowly, and cradled his shaking figure, sticky hands already wiping away his sweaty, teary face. He sobbed, unable to come into terms with the situation._

_“Papa? Where’s Papa?” He demanded shakily, tears clouding his sight, a lump already stuck in his throat. His mother stayed silent, her eyes glassy, her lips trembling._

_“I don’t know, Mijo.”_

_He weeps with her._

When he wakes again, he’s no longer in Black Forest, where he took down his target. Jesse McCree rubs his eyes as he looks around. His bags are packed, his gears already by the door. All he gotta do is get dressed and leave for Eichenwalde.

He washes his face in the toilet, notes that he looks like shit. He probably needs to lay off on the ramen, with the little belly he’s toting around looking a little pudgier than he remembers. He contemplates on shaving, his scraggy beard looking a little too out of control. He gives up, makes sure there’s no stray ramen noodle in there, ties his uncontrollable hair into a low ponytail and shoves his Stetson on to the rest of his head.

He leaves a message to the airBnB guy he rented the apartment from and made his way to the door.

He takes a final look at where he stayed for the past month. Aside from the burnt mark from the fish (that he tried to fix with varnish, it doesn’t look too bad), he had left everything the way it was.

A whole month in the Black Forest and all he did was take pictures. He told the locals that he’s a photographer. Well, he’s not lying, but he’s not telling the whole truth either. The photographer job was real though, and he enjoyed the act of it. He’s always liked taking photographs of whatever took his eye ever since his days in the barn, and it’s always been an on and off thing when he was with Deadlock. Now he goes around taking photographs as a legit excuse and getting some money out of it too.

But that’s not his only reasoning. Ever since the day in the barn, he’s been chasing after his missing father. He’s definitely a tough guy to hunt down, but the old pop’s getting careless and leaving clues every where he goes. Jesse’s not sure if Sr McCree is really getting careless, or it’s just a bait to lead him to something bigger that he’ll eventually have to deal with as the old geezer runs away into the sunset.

It’s been 27 years since he last seen his dad, and he’s been hot on his trails that it was getting maddening. Jesse just wants some answers, and whenever he thinks he’s about to get it, the slippery geezer slips away again.

So he spent a whole month waiting for his shitty pop to appear, since some acquaintance of his (now 6 foot in the ground) back in Volskaya told Jesse he’d be in Black Forest. Since the town was beautiful, it’s not like he didn’t get any beautiful pictures out of it. If anyone needed him for his bounty hunting skills, it doesn’t hurt him when his mama gets an early birthday present in her bank account.

Sr McCree has been a no show, and he couldn’t stay for longer since his time was almost up. He had to go to Eichenwalde and help a buddy of his there take down some dick he wants dead, and the money that comes with it would help fund more into looking for Sr McCree. Intel isn’t cheap.

He's on the train to Eichenwalde, just about 2 hours away from Black Forest, sending a message to his old pall Reinhardt, when a glimmer of a blue tail catches his eye.

He thought it was just his imagination.

It was too blurry for him to see. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said, I'm a support main. I was playing as Mercy again, and I was playing alone this time. I got stuck with a beginner's team and the enemy team were all 4 star players, and we were getting our asses kicked BIG TIME.
> 
> I got too frustrated at how everyone else was playing, and went on a rampage with my blaster. Which is hilarious because I'm totally shit at it. 
> 
> I guess those target practice custom games of head shotting Ana bots I do every time I log on and play is working out for me, since I got 3 kills before I got gunned down by a Widowmaker. I don't get chances to carry the team at all, so seeing that I did a decent job at it makes me a little happy, even though we lost that round pretty badly. 
> 
> On the other hand, this fic has been going pretty slowly because I wanted to set up the premise. Now that we got the exposure, we can begin the climb. On to Eichenwalde! 
> 
> Hanzo will make his debut next chapter! Look forward to it, because it'll be posted in the next 2 days!


End file.
